Wesley Snipes, Tax Invader?

[Demosthenes]

Posted: Fri., May 18, 2007, 3:30pm PT

Wesley Snipes ready to act again
Actor reminds Hollywood he's available
By DAVE MCNARY

Wesley Snipes wants to get back to work.

But there's that little matter of a tax invasion indictment that seems to be getting in the way.

"I hope my career's not over," the thesp notes with a laugh. "I've got over 50 credits. The beautiful thing about being an actor is that you can work anywhere."

Plenty of actors have worked amid legal problems, but Snipes believes he needs to remind Hollywood that he's available. His most recent work was on sci-fi Western "Gallowwalker," shot in Namibia late last year and now in post.

In his first interview since his arrest last fall, he stressed that he's up for work and insurable.

"I want to dispel concerns that I'm not employable or can't travel," he says. "People get real nervous and have a lot of questions, but there really are no obstructions with me getting cast insurance. And I feel very confident that this is going to work out."

Snipes and two other defendants were charged last October with one count of conspiracy, one count of aiding and abetting a false claim and six counts of failing to file income tax returns. At the time, Snipes said he was a scapegoat and unfairly targeted by prosecutors; trial was set for March and has been moved back to next fall.

Snipes, meanwhile, says he's getting plenty of offers -- just not the right kind.

"Ironically, getting my name plastered all over the place probably got me more offers than I would have previously," he says. "We're in a time where someone's controversies and mishaps are entertainment for everyone else."

Snipes also says he's found people not unsympathetic to his plight; after all, it's the IRS he's up against.

"People kind of feel like the IRS is the 500-pound gorilla," he says. "It's not as if they found a body in the backyard."

[Quixote]

What can you expect from someone who refers to an actor as "the thesp"?

[Demosthenes]

What can you expect from someone who refers to an actor as "the thesp"?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Thesp

[Funkalicious]

Demo, where was the original article from? Using the word "thesp" to describe Snipes sounds like the jargonesque thing that Variety does.

[Demosthenes]

Sorry. It was indeed Variety.

[Truthstalker]

IRS is the 500-pound gorilla

Damn! Lost 300 pounds. Maybe those 50 million non-filers are having an effect after all.

[tracer]

"I hope my career's not over," the thesp notes with a laugh. "I've got over 50 credits. The beautiful thing about being an actor is that you can work anywhere."

I assume he means he's in the cast credits for over 50 movies, right?

Either that, or he's using Science Fiction currency units for money now. (Something I'm surprised more anti-FRN-ists aren't doing.)